Greece – Evacuations After Floods in Thessaly

The regional government of Thessaly in central Greece declared a state of emergency last week after intense rainfall caused rivers to overflow.

The government said the severe weather was unprecedented, and brought unusually intense high rainfall over a short period of time.

A weather station near the village of Zagora in Magnesia regional unit recorded 676 mm of rain between 21 and 26 February, including 208.8 mm in 24 hours to 26 February.

Heavy rainfall elsewhere in the region caused the Pinios River and its tributaries to overflow in Trikala regional unit. Farmland was inundated and areas around several villages flooded, including Valtino, Farkadona, Exalofos, Eleftherochori, Matsoukiotika and Dendrochori.

Local media also reported flooding and evacuations in the municipality of Pyli along the Portaikos river in Trikala regional unit.

On 26 February the Greek Directorate for Emergency Planning and Response requested Copernicus Emergency Mapping Service to produce delineation maps showing the extent of flooding. Copernicus is the EU programme for satellite Earth observation. See all the maps here.

As of 02 March, heavy rain fall was also reported in Zakynthos, Ionian Islands.

Flooding in November last year caused major devastation in West Attica, Greece. At least 23 people died and around 1,000 buildings were damaged.

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